A Turn of Events
by IceHeist
Summary: Major twist to the story line of Ice Age 4, starting in Gutt's ship.
1. Chapter 1

**A Turn of Events**

**Hi everyone! I've been wanting to write this for very long now, and finally got down to writing it! XD**

**This story starts right after Manny, Sid, Diego and Granny boards Gutt's ship. What if they stayed on with the pirates?**

**This is my first fanfic, don't be too harsh and please enjoy! :D**

"As much as I'm tempted to join a monkey, Easter bunny, and a giant bag of pudding, I'll pass. Nothing will stop me from getting back to my family."  
>As Manny said that, Diego on the other hand, was thinking otherwise. It was because of her. He had not seem another saber for ages, and longed to spend time with another. Especially one who was so attractive, the moment he set his eyes on her... Something about her...<p>

Thoughts were racing through Manny's mind. Should he stay on board Gutt's ship? If not, how would they escape? He just couldn't think straight.

"Wait!" Manny screamed.

The crew just looked at him, as Gutt smirked, knowing that he has new addition to his crew.

"So, joining us?" Gutt asked with an impatient tone. Manny just nodded.

Diego was so happy, just to be able to spend more time gazing at Shira's feminine and muscular body. He didn't mind spending several more days or even weeks away from the herd, just for her. His eyes focused on the saberess at a corner, until Squint had started untying him, which jolted him back into reality. "Understand?" Gutt impatiently asked. Diego just looked up and gave a slight nod.

Late at night, the ship jerked to a stop. Manny was first to feel it, and realized that they were at a shore foreign to him. He woke the rest of the herd up, and made their way off the ship.

All except for Diego, who had stopped next to Shira and gave her a lick on her muzzle.

Shira had realized what was happening and pulled away, leaving Diego all red and embarrassed.

Diego knew that Shira would definitely shout to wake everyone up, and instinctively he pressed her against the wall, restricting her wind pipe. She tried struggling but to no avail... "Shhhhh..." Was all Diego said, until he felt her body go limp, and her eyes closed once again...

Manny had realized what was happening and had signaled to Diego to leave quickly. "WHAT! WE CANT JUST LEAVE HER HERE?!" Diego whispered to Manny.

Manny just rolled his eyes and picked her up with his tusks and left the ship, with Diego.

"Care to explain why we need a saber to come along with us?" Manny grumbled "Well, if we ever get caught by Gutt, don't we need a hostage to stop him from attacking us?" Diego retorted.

"Why can't we use something smaller, like that Easter Bunny?" Diego was out of excuses. "Well, umm... He's... Not as attracti... "

He walked right into Sid, who had his eyes fixed on the sight before them. "No way..." Sid whimpered

"Yes, we're going in there", Manny started walking into the dark, menacing forest ahead of them. "At least that will keep us away from the pirates..."

They found a spot to camp for the night and by then, granny and Sid were dead tired, and fell asleep instantly.

"So what do we do with our prisoner?" Manny puts her down, and slumping down next to her.

"Just leave her to me..."

Diego secretly cuddles next to her after Manny falls asleep, and went in to slumber...

-Shira's POV-  
>I slowly opened up my eyes... Where was I? The first thing I was kissed by the golden furred saber and the next, what?! Why is he coming so close to me? Ugh... I'm stuck in between a mammoth... What? They still exist? I tried to unwind myself from the saber's grip, and as I thought I was free, I felt something force my body onto the ground.<p>

-Third person-  
>"Where do you think you're going, kitty?" Diego smirked at her.<br>Shira just looked away, showing her disapproval.

"Woah... Hold it there Diego! It's not even mating season! Pinning down a female already?" Sid teased Diego.

As Diego looked back, he saw the rest of the herd looking at him. He got off and just then, Diego sensed the presence of the pirates... "They're coming... The pirates, they're coming!" Diego quickly holds Shira's neck in his mouth, but careful not to bite.

"Ah, we've found them, let's show them the punishment for escaping..." As Gutt and his crew sprang out from the bush, Manny tries his best to sound threatening "You won't want to see a dead crew member, now would you?"

"Go ahead! Take Shira's life. I didn't need her anyway. She's a waste of space on board anyway."

Shira was at a lost of words. She put her full trust into Gutt, and that is what she gets in return?

However, she felt faint again, as she felt something piercing her neck.

Manny got ready to fight, along with Diego who has released his grip from Shira and the sloths.

"Let's dance, Manny." Gutt smirked.

**End of chapter one! :D Enjoyed it? Please leave a review! **

**Is switching POVs good? Or should I just stick to third person?**

**Cya Soon! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's chapter 2! :D**

**I would like to thank GoldenSaber, ecamasiel, Shiego627 and TimberPaw for your reviews! Really appreciate it! :)**

**Since I'm still waiting for school posting results to be out, I have taken time to write my second chapter, since I have the chance to. I'm also really hoping to get in to the school of my choice! :P**

**This also means that the next few chapters will be uploaded pretty fast! But when school starts... :/**

**Anyways, without further ado...**

As Gutt was about to draw his sword made of bone, Diego noticed this and knocked it out of his hands. Gutt, enraged, started a chase, intimidates"Ohhoho... You're messing with the wrong animal!"

The rest of Gutt's crew, having seen what had happened, had all decided to participate in the wild goose chase too.

"Quick! Follow me!" Manny ordered.

"What about Diego?" Sid asks worryingly.

"Don't you get it? It's a distraction! Now quickly, guys!" As Manny pulled Sid and granny up on his back. "What about our prisoner?" Sid exclaims, but it was too late, Manny had heard both a sickening crack below his feet, and something furry. It was over.

-Diego's POV-  
>As I turned back, through the thick undergrowth, I could still see them on my trial. How unusual to have these pirates, especially that seel...still being able to chase me so far?<p>

Wait a second... Is is fresh air I smell? Yeah, I must be reaching... A shore! I quickened my pace only to realize that...

IT WAS NO SHORE... it was a cliff! The cliff overlooked a vast portion of the forest, trees stretching over several miles.

I stood at the edge, like a predator being cornered by its prey... I felt the ledge with my legs and... Just happened to have a look down the cliff... HOLY CRAP! It was so far down... And I remembered a similar scene, when I cornered a human and her child...

And what did she do? She jumm...ppped?

Death. It had never crossed his mind that he'll succumb to such fate, so young, without her... Not forgetting he was jumping down a cliff... Not a waterfall!

-third person-  
>By then, he was caught up by Gutt and his crew. "Look whose gonna be our hostage now..." Gutt smirked, slowly approaching Diego.<p>

Diego looked down the cliff once again, but no. He couldn't do it.

"Squint! Tie up this saber. We're taking him back."

"I don't think so." Squint senses that Diego will risk it, and jumped off him in the nick of time.

"Oh no! Squint's gone forever, tied up to that lion!" Flynn exclaimed, jumping up and down.

Squint just stood, staring up to the clumsy, big sized seel before him.  
>"Oh! There he is!"<p>

Gutt just sighed, and signaled his crew to fall back.

"Ahhhhh!" He imagined himself falling just like the woman, it's just that there was no water!

He fell through the branches and fortunately, the rope that squint had tied him up with had caught a low branch, and cushioned his fall.

"Phew! Well, that was an unorthodox way to escape..." As he used his claws to release the rope, he finally touched the ground, unharmed.

-Diego's POV-  
>Where am I? As I looked around, so many questions were running through my head. How will I get out of here? Will I ever find the herd again? Even if I found them, how are we ever gonna get back home?<br>But, the biggest question was... Will I ever find her? What? It should have been will she ever like me?  
>Then it dawned on me, what if I fatally bit her?<p>

I started dreaming of the perfect life with her... Listening to her voice... Feeling her pelt... Just the thought of her had made me purr.

No... I'll go crazy if I still keep thinking about it... Maybe I should just find some food first, that'll get me thinking straight...

-back at Gutt's crew, third person-

The crew started to unloading food, and starting a fire. Gutt was not going to leave that island without getting his revenge.

-meanwhile with manny...-  
>"Manny, I got a feeling... ssshhe's dead... No! You killed Diego's mate... They had something going on already... Why! I wanted to see their cubs and all..." As Sid weeped away on Manny, as Manny just nudged them to go on... "Oh you think too far Sid. Come on we've got to find Diego."<p>

-Diego's POV-  
>I sniffed the air, hoping to seek out prey... But this place... It seems so strange... There was a smell of a different animal... Different scents...<p>

At that point in time, I saw a white figure, moving quickly through the dense forest... Wait... White? What was her name again... Shira! That's right!

I sprinted over to the figure, and knocked it over, from the side.

I went up over to her side and shouted "Shira! It's me!"

-Third Person-

"Ugh! Get off me! Who are you?!" She screamed...

"Woah... Shira, did you get into a fight? Where's your canines? You look different..." Diego sounded concerned, as he inspected her...

"You're the one looking weird! Such perculiar teeth..." As she stared at Diego...

-Back with Manny-  
>"It's getting late, we better find shelter and fire." Manny was totally exhausted from the day's activities.<p>

They have been walking the whole day and finding Diego seems impossible.

Settling down in a comfortable cave, they brought some fire wood.  
>"Nights Manny." Was all Sid said.<br>Manny was oblivious to his comment, as he was staring up at the evening sky, with the cloudy moon reflecting light back down, in all it's beauty.

**Chapter 2 done! :D**

**Did I write better in chapter 2? (Well, hopefully I did :P)**

**Anyways, cya guys soon! ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Third chapter's up!** **Read and review! :D**

A turn of events 3

-third person-  
>Diego was perplexed. How can she forget me...?<p>

She started circling around him, just thinking to herself... He has such peculiar teeth... What is he?

"Shira! It's me! The saber who kissed you on the ship!" Diego shook her, after seeing her all dreamy and tried knocking some sense into her.

-Shira's POV-  
>I slowly opened my eye as I caught a glimpse of the dim evening sun through the trees... My head was hurting... And where am I?<p>

I attempted to get up again, but was restricted by... a thick, broken branch, probably brought down by a large force. Probably there must have been a storm while I was unconscious... I used my hind legs and all my might to push the branch away, finally getting up and grooming myself clean.

As I looked back at the trench I was stuck in, I realized that it was no storm that had trapped me there... It looked like... giant footsteps?

I should find a cave to stay for the night, it's getting late...

As I lay down, I started thinking about everything... All that has happened today. Did captain Gutt really... Said I was worthless? Maybe it's true... To him.

-Third person-  
>"Who is this Shira, you shared a kiss with?" She whispered into his ear, as she circled him once more, gently brushing her fur against his.<p>

When Diego inspected her body again, and finally noticed that it was teeming with spots. "I'm sorry... I must have mistaken. I've gotta get going."

"Wait! Where are you going?"

Diego did not reply.

"Listen, it's not safe outside, many more of my kind lurk out there and you're definitely going to need me." She jumped in front of him, seeming all serious.

"Oh yeah? So you can lead me to them?" Diego sarcastically replied.

"I escaped."

That got Diego all curious, as he turned back to see her looking down, on the brink of breaking down.

-Diego's POV-  
>How could I even mess up a leopard with Shira? This is simply RIDICULOUS Diego! You're going outta your mind! One side of me was telling me not to console her, but the other told me she could be useful to me, if I could befriend her.<p>

I walked up slowly to her. "Hey, what's wrong? Why did you escape?"

Still in tears, she slowly started speaking up. "They had treated me badly... Ever since my parents passed away... I had... No one there for me..."

What other choice did I have? I had to console her...

"It's okay... I'm there for you now..." Diego looked into her eyes and gave a warm smile. She returned a smile, as she started to get up.

"We should find a place to put up for the night... Come with me..." As I followed closely behind her.

"Oh, and by the way I'm Eva." I just gave a slight smile, "I'm Diego."

Soon enough, she led us to a cave and settled in for the night.

"So, why did you escape?" I asked. "It's a long story. My parents were always very loving on all 3 of my siblings and myself. We lived pretty peacefully until recently... They were killed by another group of leopards... Leaving 4 of us behind. Their leader had taken us with them as they said something about needing younger fighters. Being the only female... They didn't want me... I was too weak. I could foresee myself ending up like the other females..." She started breaking down again... "Ended up breeding all my life... And here I am, escaping."

"Well, your safe with me now." I smiled as I tried to cheer her up. "Diego? Thanks for consoling me... I really needed to... Let it out..." and just like that, she drifted off into sleep.

I, on the other hand, was wide awake thinking about everything. It had been such a crazy day for me. I mean everything I happening so fast... One moment I'm with the herd and the next? I'm sleeping close to a leopard I hardly know! And Shira... She'll probably thinks I'm some pervert. In the first place, what was I doing, kissing her? Sometimes I should just stop and think. Do I still have a chance with her? Will she still follow Gutt? No, the top priority is still to find the herd again... I must... Get back...

-next morning, with Manny-  
>Manny wakes up, turns his head to find Sid and granny looking straight into his eyes.<p>

"What are you looking at?"  
>Sid just shakily pointed at his trunk. There was a snake had wrapped itself around it, and was resting soundly.<p>

"SNAKE!" Manny started running as fast as possible, attempting to shake it off by swinging it against rocks, trees, anything he could find.

The snake took a venomous bite into his trunk, before starting to feast on Manny. Awhile later, as Sid had caught up with him, had noticed Manny slumped to his right, on the floor, lifeless.

As he walked up to Manny's side, he saw a green shade on Manny's left tusk.

"Oh Manny! You've got a snake on your tusk!" As Sid walked up to Manny, he also saw... Shira!

"Don't bite my Manny!" Sid commanded, as he picked up a stick from the floor, pointing it at her. Sid steps backwards in horror... "She killed Manny! The tiger killed Manny!" Running around wildly, till granny used her stick to stop him. "Sidney! She's clearing up his wound, don't you see!" Surprised at granny's sudden ability to comprehend the situation better than himself, Sid stopped running and looked at her with a confused look.

"Sloth, I'm trying to get the poison out of your friend. If you don't mind, please stop disturbing me." Shira sarcastically requested, "oh and do get some water to wake him."

After sometime, Sid's clumsy footsteps were heard once again.

"Is this enough?" Sid carries a bowl made out of a shell with his hands, as he approached Shira.

Shira rolled her eyes and sighed. "Ya think?" Looking back at Manny's huge size. "Looks like you've gotta do everything yourself..."

Shira leaped back into the labyrinth of the jungle, on the quest to find water.

"Hey granny, why would you think Shira would help us? After all, she's a pirate."

-meanwhile with Diego-  
>Eva was comfortably leaning against the warmth of Diego, and as soon as he woke up to realize this, he stood up. "Eva? You awake? Could you show me the way out? I really have to get back to my herd..." Eva slowly opened up her eyes to see Diego, and she thought,"After telling him everything... He's still fixed on getting back to his friends..."<p>

-Manny's POV-  
>"Sid? What are you doing on my trunk?" I groggily opened my eyes to find something green on my trunk. It is a snake!<p>

"Manny! Are you feeling better?" I heard a voice in a distance. As I looked back, expecting 2 sloths, I saw Diego! And he's turned into a ghost! And I was sweating all over... No... This can't be happening! "Ghost! Ghost!" I shouted as I pointed in its direction.

"Relax Manny! It's Shira! She saved you!" Sid reached up for Manny's trunk, attempting to show him his trunk, which had a wound that had been attended to. Still stuttering, "How... I stepped on you..."

"You stepped on a branch instead, missed me by that much." Shira chuckled, before taking on a serious tone, "Since I don't have a crew anymore, can I join you guys?"

"WHAT?!" Manny exclaimed.

"Can we keep her? Please?"

There was an awkward silence, until Manny spoke up, "Well, I wouldn't mind but that depends on what the rest of the herd thinks..."

"Come on! She doesn't bite! Wait... Does she?" Sid asked.

"Well, that depends..." Shira looked straight into Sid's eyes.

"Whatever the case, we have to find Diego."

"Where do we start, captain?"

"Just call me Manny, we start here, and we'll just hope we'll stumble across him."

**Third chapter done! Hope you guys liked it as much as the first and second chapters! :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**A turn of events 4**

**Finally, the fourth chapter's up! :)**

**This chapter is mostly focused on Diego and Eva.**

**Enjoy! :D**

-Third person, Diego-  
>Eva broke the silence, "So, why is this herd of your's so special to you?"<p>

He went into deep thought for a second or two, "Well, my herd is made up of several close buddies that I had met along the way, and were even willing to risk their lives to save mine. Friends like that are hard to find, and what I learnt is that when you do find them, make sure you keep them dear to you. Even though sometimes they do get on my nerves, they will always be dear to me."

-back with manny-  
>After searching for Diego from dawn till dusk, for several days now, the search was getting more hopeless by the second.<p>

"Diego!" Manny shouted."...It's useless. We'll never find him if we keep going at this pace."

-meanwhile with Diego-  
>"Manny? And he's a mammoth? You sure have an odd herd. Plus, how do you resist eating all of them?"<p>

"Eva, you don't eat your friends now do you?" Diego retorted.

"I never really have close friends... So I guess I wouldn't know..."

Diego's stomach was growling, and had drew Eva's attention.

"Seems like someone's hungry."

"Umm... I'm just a little. Could we hunt to...together?"

"Why not? I think I know the perfect place!"

-back with Manny-  
>Shira just shook her head and suggested "We should look for Gutt, and find out if Diego's been taken by them. I mean what if he was taken hostage on Gutt's ship all these while?"<p>

"Wait a minute... You're right, he might be caught. Let's head back."

There it was, a lone gazelle, grazing on the grass. All it saw was a dense forest, doubting the fact that there may be threats nearby.

Diego had received the signal from Eva to advance quietly towards the gazelle, and with one pounce and a swift claw, the gazelle had been pinned and killed by Eva.

"Lunch is served!" Eva spoke in a muffled tone, as the animal carcass hung from her jaws.

-Diego's POV-  
>Why isn't she putting it down? What did she want me to do? Grab it from her mouth?! If it was her plan to stop me from eating, it was not working as I had a ravenous appetite.<p>

As I shut my eyes and inched closer towards my meal, I imagined chewing the raw, fresh meat with the blood oozing out of the carcass. Oh, so tasty.

But as I bit down on the area where I expected the meat, there was nothing more than tasteless air.

-Third person-

"Hey! Bring it back here at once or else!"

Eva, still carrying it in her mouth, had playfully denied Diego his meal.

"Or else?" Eva teased.

"This." A golden figure swiftly came out, tickling and licking her at the same time.

Eva started laughing uncontrollably and had dropped the carcass. "Diego, stop!"

Diego had forgotten about how hungry he was, and had playfully chased Eva around.

After some time...

"Now if you will excuse me, it's lunch time." Diego sank his teeth into the carcass.

Eva just sat there on her haunches, amused at Diego wolfing down his food, leaving only the bones behind.

"What?" Diego finally realized her pair of eyes focused on him.

"You know, I'm still a little hungry... maybe because YOU ATE EVERYTHING." She sarcastically laughed it off.

"Eva... I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have ate everything..."

Eva started giggling at the sight of Diego being so soft.

"So umm... What do you need me to get for you?"

"Umm anything's fine. I'm not really that hungry to be honest."

As dusk approaches, they find a cave to settle for the night.

"Eva? Thanks for spending so much time with me... I really appreciate your company." Diego said.

"Yeah, me too. I'll be staying up for awhile... You go ahead and catch some sleep."

"Well umm... I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Eva."

"Nights Diego."

Eva had been out of the cave for a good half an hour now, and as she came back into the cave, she settled behind Diego, and decides to wrap her forelegs over Diego. "Oh Diego... You're so soft..." Eva started inching unconsciously towards Diego, until her mouth was right outside his ear, "What I really needed was you...to tell me you feel the same way too..."

Diego had been awake ever since he felt her warmth on his fur. He opened his eyes a little, but was careful not to move around too much.

Diego wanted to feel the same way, but with Shira... He couldn't...

On the other hand, his mind started arguing that Shira wasn't even close to him, other than that one forced kiss, Shira hasn't really interacted with him much.

There was a long silence, and just as Eva spoke up, and Diego had closed his eyes again. "I dread the thought of you leaving me for your herd... And I'll be all alone... Again..." A tear or two had been shed, before Diego felt her grip of her forelegs on him slowly fade out, before it became just a contact between her legs and his body...

-Diego's POV-

"Pleasure me... Diego..." Eva had rubbed her soft underbelly seductively against my back. She slowly squeezed me tighter to her sleek, feminine body. Then she spoke up "Pleasure me while I still have you..."

"WHAT?!" I stood up immediately, opening up my eyes. Woah, that was waaaaay too crazy. I'm just friends with her, nothing more. That dream was just so... impossible to happen.

Phew, it was just a dream... Wait what? I didn't feel her paw on my shoulder, so I turned around to scan the cave to find... EVA'S GONE!

The dim sunlight of dawn approaching was enough for me to notice the scratch marks on the soil right outside the cave. It was pretty obvious that something had taken Eva by force.

Nnooo...no... This is all my fault... If only I was awake when she was about to be taken. I could have stopped them from taking her away from me. Instinctively, I ran in the direction of the trail, hoping to find her.

**That's the end of chapter 4! :)**

**If you enjoyed this story so far, feel free to leave a review! :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**A turn of events 5 **

**Phew, I'm so glad all of you guys liked the last chapter :D ****I would also really like to thank you guys for your wonderful support and would like to give a shoutout to Shiego627, SilverWing, kitsunelullaby, TimberPaw, dodgerxrita and ecamasiel for being so supportive by reviewing the last chapter, and a special shoutout to KaylaDestroyer for giving inspiration on chapter 5! :D **

Without further ado...

-The morning after Diego found Eva missing-

After several hours of walking back to the ship, as they were walking along the trail, Manny was still bothered with so many questions left unanswered. How were they going to distract Gutt and his crew from the ship? Even if they managed to pull that off, what if Diego isn't on the ship the whole time? No. No, even if Diego isn't on the ship, he will set sail. He must set sail. He can't bear the thought of leaving his family to die. Not again. He still vividly remembered what happened when they paid a visit to the the dinosaurs, how he endangered both Ellie's and Peach's lives to save Sid. Not anymore. A sudden collision into Shira's hind legs had Manny looking forward, seeing Shira getting into a crouching stance and a whisper had broken the monotony between the animals, "There! There's my crew!" She notices Gutt, as usual, getting the crew to sing along with him, as they were all walking briskly along the sea side, as if searching for something, and if isn't already obvious enough, for the herd.

Shira whispered, "If you were thinking how on Earth will you pirate a pirate ship from pirates," as she instinctively crouched even closer to the ground, "think no further." With a confident smirk on her face, she had drawn their attention and not too far away, there it was... Gutt's ship!

"Are we going now? I mean, what if Diego isn't up there? What are we gonna do?" Sid asks both of them.

"Yeah, we should. This is our chance! Since they're out of the ship!" Manny whispered in a louder tone, and was immediately interrupted by Shira, "The sloth's right, what if Diego isn't there? What will we do then? Get off again? I'm sure your "herd" won't be happy to have me as their replacement for Diego." She sarcastically replied Manny.

"Shira, we have been searching for Diego for days now, and if we still haven't found him, it can only mean one thing, that he's already on board. I promise, he will be." As Manny reassures Shira, Shira nods as they observed the crew travel away from the ship, and waited till the crew was a safe distance away, lowering the chances of the crew catching them.

After a long wait when the silhouette of the crew along the seaside had turned into small figures, Sid, Shira and Manny makes a run for the ship, with Granny riding on Sid's back.

As Shira stopped and gave another worrying look back into the forest just before they boarded the ship, she was reassured by Manny that Diego will be on board, before closing the board used to get onto the ship.

As they boarded the ship and as Shira had reached the chambers where prisoners are kept, all that were seen were empty cages, no sign of a orange furred saber. "I just knew it... I had a hunch..." Shira thought to herself, before starting to make her way back to the deck, where the rest were waiting for the arrival of Diego. "He isn't there." Shira grimly replied to their hopeful faces.

"It's too bad." Manny stated. Looking at all three of them giving him a surprised expression, Manny had started to reason with them. "Firstly, we have already set sail, it'll take forever to turn back. Secondly, let me remind you that we are on a pirate's ship, and if we turn back to that shore again, we will not be able to set sail for our home again." "But how can you just leave Diego behind?! He is part of our herd, we promised to trust each other for help." Sid angrily retorted.

"Well..." "Exactly, I don't believe you are leaving a herd member behind! Even as a friend, I wouldn't do that." Shira interrupted Manny, adding on to Sid's point. "Yes, he is part of our herd, but... I have my family to save. If you have forgotten, I'd like to remind you that my family was stuck on a moving piece of land, and I did promise them that I'll be back for them." Manny could not even bear to look up. "I'm sorry."

Finally looking up, he noticed that there were 2 of them. Wait, 2 of them! What happen to Shira?! As he sped to the corner of the ship, a white speckle in the water in a distance had told him exactly what happened to her.

-Meanwhile with Shira, Shira's POV-

Although I was choking, I always had my eyes on the shore, attempting to swim over to it as quickly as possible. I have to find Diego... I took several more strokes before reaching the shore of the beach where I immediately let go of my body weight, as I slumped to the ground. As I caught my breath, without getting up, I looked around my body, and I was encircled by fresh marks of the ship I had jumped off. Oh great. Now I have just abandoned both my crew and my herd, all alone, searching for a missing saber I hardly knew. Ugh... Why did I do it? Hmm... Probably because I couldn't even imagine going back with Manny to his herd without Diego, it would be so awkward for me... Yeah, that's probably it.

Far deeper into the jungle, Diego had been following the scent left by Eva, for several hours now, until he noticed some movement in the bushes up ahead. He decided to go closer to the source of the noise, and stood rooted to the scene before him.

"Well well well... Looks who has turned up to the party..."

**End of chapter 5. If you liked it, do leave a review! :) It may sound strange but your reviews really do get me motivated to write my stories, and it will be nice to know that people do appreciate my story so far. Also, I decided to use my pet as my profile pic, as the default one by FanFiction is pretty ugly XD Anyways, cya guys soon! ^^**


	6. Chapter 6

**A turn of events 6**

**Finally done with my exams, really love that comforting feeling that you'll probably do well XD**

**I would also like to apologize for the semi-M rated scene in the previous version of chapter 6, it seemed that it wasn't really well received by all of you :P  
>Anyways, I hope I can make up for that with this newly updated version, tell me what you think after you've read it! ;)<strong>

**And to answer the question if Shira and Diego will mate, well, it's kinda depending on what all of you think... I mean, the last time I wrote something a little sexual, everyone didn't seem to like it very much :P **

**The reason why started writing this chapter might be odd, but it was because of the '14 Fifa World Cup song! XD The reason behind it is because it had Jennifer Lopez singing part of it, and I don't know why but her voice ALWAYS reminds me of ice age, maybe I tend to relate it to Shira XD**

**Without further ado... Please enjoy my next chapter! ^_^**

-Back in the forest-  
>Diego had finally gotten Eva in his line of sight, but was definitely getting no where nearer to her. Camouflaged with the rest of the forest, this fortress-like area was definitely not a place to be in, let alone being close to it.<p>

"No... P...Please don't hurt me..." Eva backed up into a tree, looking at the male leopard, as he approached her menacingly.

As he got nearer, he slowed down his walking pace and started laughing menacingly. He knocked her to the ground with one powerful strike of his claws. "You shouldn't have ran, Eva..." Once again, he approaches Eva. "Like I said, it'll be the biggest mistake you'll ever make in your life." He paused before smirking. "And now you will pay."

Diego stood rooted to the spot, looking at Eva in pain. Diego definitely wanted to help her out, but he wasn't all that dumb. He knew that there were many other leopards just like that male around, and being captured was the only thing that he might hope of happening.

-Back with Shira-  
>After resting for several long minutes, Shira finally found the energy to stand up and walk, despite feeling completely exhausted from the swim to shore.<p>

She turned her head to look for any sign of life around her. Not a single movement or form of life form was seen. Well, at least Gutt wasn't there to give her trouble.

'Well, I guess I could stick along the beachside for awhile till I've figured out a plan to find Diego...' She lay on her side, facing an all too familiar sight of the blue sea on the sandy white beach once again, gently using a claw to draw on the sand... 'Diego. Where am I supposed to find you? When? How?' She tried suppressing her thoughts on the most dreaded outcome, 'maybe never...'

-With Gutt's crew, 3rd POV-  
>"Is that... Shira?" Gutt squints a little to get a closer look, and gives an unbelieving look. He still remembers calling Shira useless and not needed, but he noticed ever since Shira left, the crew have always been giving him the skeptical look, Why did he do it? Who will be next to be sacrificed? To Gutt, it seems like the only way to assure such a thing will not happen to them is... Well, getting her back.<p>

As they approached the resting saberess, her grey back that was facing them had become more distinct.

"Oh my... Shira! Where have you been?!" Gutt exclaimed, attempting to sound happy. While the rest stood silent around the duo.

"Go away." Shira said, without moving out of her original position. It was pretty obvious she had vividly remembered what Gutt had said, and wasn't happy to hear him.

"Oh Shira, don't we all know what I told them wasn't true..." Gutt tried to speak both confidently and a ridiculing tone. "It was just to make Manny return you to us."

"Oh, so you wanted him to "return" me to you?!" Shira snapped.

"No, Shira. What I meant was that we could get back as a crew again. Me, you and the rest. How does that sound?" Gutt smiled, ever trying so hard to convince her.

"Gutt. What do you treat me as? One moment you say how worthless I am, and the next you're wanting me back? You think I'm you're slave?! Ugh. You disgust me. I'll never want to see your face ever again!" Shira got up and ran. "That's one hot tempered tigeress..." a baffled Gutt thought to himself.

-Back with Diego-  
>"Guards! Keep a lookout on our her. We don't want her escaping, now do we?" An authoritative voice was heard in a distance, as Diego was watching the guards closely. He looked around, saw many guards standing around a small cave and of course, there lay Eva in the cave, ever so still.<p>

"Hmm... If I were to have even the slightest chance at getting her out, it will have to be done stealthily..."

-Much later into the night, Diego's POV-  
>Guard after guard, I managed to sneak my way past, and was only a short distance away from the cave, and there was only one small entrance to it. As I hid behind some felled tree logs, a guard was right in front of me. Although violence wasn't my preference, he was in my way into the cave, so I didn't have a choice. I pounced upwards and pinned him down, and he lost consciousness. I rolled him behind the tree logs, and finally, I was up in front of the cave.<p>

I entered the cave and tapped her lightly on her shoulder.

She flinched on the contact, but quickly turned to look. "No. Go away Diego. You can't help me escape." She looked scared, I could see the fear in her eyes.

"Listen, the plan's pretty simple. You make a run for it, I'll lead them away from you..."

"But Diego, they'll-"

"Hmm... But what if they don't-"

"DIEGO! Listen to me. We are leopards."

"Yeah, so what's so special about all of you?"

"We can easily outrun you sabers!"

"Oh... Yeah... That... Well, I'll try to sneak my way out of this place, but if that fails I'll run. Does that sound better? I don't want to hold you back, in case I get caught."

"I don't know about this, Diego... You sure you want to risk it?" Eva looked up at me, giving me a worried look.

"Yeah, I'm sure. You take care, I'll meet up with you as soon as I'm out of this place."

As she nods, we both went in opposite directions. All that was on my mind was just hoping that both of us would get out without getting caught...

**Yeah, I know, this chapter ain't as exciting as the others, but lots of action is coming very soon, in the next chapter!**

**I would like to thank all of you for your wonderful support through your reviews, they really keep me going. :)**

**Till then people! ^_^**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7, The Great Escape**

**Hey, I'm back with another chapter, this chapter will FINALLY get more interesting, you'll see! ;)**

**Hope all of you will enjoy it! :D**

As Diego walked away from Eva, he began to regret, more and more, for parting ways with her. Yes, it might be a viable strategy in case one of them gets caught, either way he wouldn't have a companion anymore...

At the same time, Eva was equally scared about herself, and imagining how dead she would be if any single of them had caught her. The pain. The torture. No mercy.

-Shira's POV-

I stared up into the abyss of the night sky, where the stars and the moon were dimly lit. I should really stop getting stressed by all of this... Well, I guess I will just find a cave to spend the night before worrying about tomorrow again...

Diego hid behind a large bolder, attempting to route away back out of the fortress. "Damn... There's tons of them..." He peeked to the side of the unusually large rock. He kicked out a rock into the sights of the leopards, who instinctively turned to the source of the noise. As they looked down, Diego made a run for it. With a tad of swoosh from the bushes, they started to grow suspicious Eva might have escaped. "Check the cave." One of them said to the rest, and he had them checking Eva's den at once. On the other hand, as Eva's scent was still strong in the vicinity, he started to follow her tracks.

Eva panted heavily as she finally stopped running from the pursuit thinking that she had evaded them.

-Diego's POV-

As I looked back, all that was to be seen was a tiny speck of orange, which was probably the fortress... Well, I abandoned the plan of meeting Eva ever since I heard some movements right after I escaped from the fortress. I should think they'll chase me, but none seem to be catching up anytime soon. As I started walking again, I finally gained back my breath, and after contemplating with myself, I finally gave in to the thought of finding a shelter to spend the night over finding Eva, especially during the night.

-Back with Eva-

"Diego? Diego? DIEGO?!God, where is he..." Eva started to get worried. She had vividly remembered Diego telling her to wait there for him at the prominent tree not too far away from the fortress. The tree immensely tall, easily one of the tallest in that area. 'Maybe he got chased...? Or even worse, maybe he got captured?!' Such worrying thoughts were clouding Eva's mind. 'Yeah, I'll wait for him here. I'll just wa...' Eva dosed off even before finishing the sentence, being totally exhausted from that run, and her legs had become weak.

In the shadows of the night, a noise of undergrowth being disturbed had awakened Eva thanks to her sharp senses. As she got up ever so noiselessly, she immediately leaned her body really close to the ground, preparing to strike. As the mysterious object moved around in the brushes, Eva was getting impatient of being in such an uncomfortable position, and had pounced into the direction of the sound. "Wow...wow...wow!" The little green thing tried to slip out of her grasp. "Let go of me!"

"Ugh... You're so... Smelly..." Eva inspected it before letting it go.

"I mean no harm, I promise!" Sid puts his hands up in the air, once again releasing an unpleasant odor.

"Alright alright, just put your paws down already..." Eva tried to step away from him.

After a long, awkward silence, Sid finally starts asking, as he starts to gather some twigs. "So, uh I was just looking for a white saber tooth cat with grey stripes, have you seen one?" Sid asks hopefully, with a unconfident smile.

"Well, although I haven't seen anything like that, I have seen a saber tooth cat, but he was orange."

Sid gasps as he drops the several twigs he was holding, "Diego?!"

"Wow, hold it there, sloth. You know Diego?"

"Yes! Yes! Could you lead me to him? Please?" Sid put both of his hands together, in somewhat a begging position, with a hopeful, sad look on his face.

-Back with Diego-

Diego walked briskly, as it was pretty late at night, and his surroundings were close to pitch black. He had finally come across a large cave, where he had entered it to rest in. "I guess that'll do..." Little did Diego know that Shira was in the very same cave, sleeping right at the other corner...

-Back with Sid-

"I would like to help you, but I can't. Here's the story... He helped me get out of that dreadful fortress... We were supposed to meet here but he hasn't come here..." Eva continues, as she watched Sid set up a campfire. Little did they both know that the male leopard that had been following them was still hiding somewhere in the bushes... He was just waiting... Just waiting to get as much information out of Eva before re-capturing her.

"Well, I guess we'll just wait here till he comes back... You really haven't heard of a white saber? One that looks similar to Diego, but with smaller... features?" Sid gloomily replies, playing with a stick which he had gathered but not used for the campfire.

"Nope, Diego's the only one I know..." Eva slouches and yawns...

"LET GO OF ME!" Eva screamed, as the male leopard who had trailed her for so long suddenly leaped onto her, pinning her to the ground.

The male leopard let out an evil laugh. "Eva... You sneaky little kitty... Finding friends out here in the wild? Well, you won't need them anymore once I bring you back to the master..." He smirks.

"STAND BACK!" Sid confidently shouts, holding the very stick he had been playing with all night. He moved awkwardly forward towards him, poking his right eye with the stick. "I'M GONNA GET YOU SLOTH!"

"Eva! Run!" Sid screamed before running away himself, and the leopard's attention was brought back to Eva. Eva smirked as she started running, confident that she could out run him easily... The chase ensues...

**A/N: I really wanted to give a name to this male leopard which was meant to be of a higher rank as compared to the rest, but I just couldn't think of one... XD**

**Anyways, R&R please! :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8, Meeting an Old Acquaintance**

**Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter. Sorry I took so long to upload this, I've been really busy lately... Trying to keep my word count for each chapter over a thousand too :P**

**Author's note: Before I start of this chapter, there are two thing that I would like to talk about.**

**Firstly, I need several more names for some other characters in chapters which are coming up! It'd be nice if you could come up with an interesting name!**

**Secondly, I'll like to sincerely thank all of you for spending your valuable time reading and reviewing my story, speaking of which, if I'm not wrong the last chapter alone has hit 10 reviews, over 3200 views in total and in my opinion, that's ****staggeringly high ****for such an amateur writer like me! If not for all of your continuous support to me, ****definitely ****I will never have gotten so much enthusiasm into doing this. Anyways, without any further ado...**

As the leopard chased Eva, she made a sharp turn, heading back to wear Sid was. "Hang on tight sloth!" Eva shouts, as she pulls Sid by his scruff onto her back. Although Eva had a small built, she was still able to carry Sid. "Just call me Sid! Whoa… ah!" Letting Sid dangle from sway from side to side definitely did not make him feel safe… The dense understory of the forest coupled with the dusking skies was all the illumination Eva had to use to navigate her way out of the area. Furthermore, Sid was occasionally getting hit by low branches and had slowed down her speed even more drastically.

As they were still being tailed closely, Eva gradually increased her pace. She knows that her stamina is significantly less than his and eventually she'll lose. However, she reminded herself that she had something he didn't have. Speed. Eva abruptly accelerated ahead of the male leopard, before she switched directions nimbly several times. As the steps behind her became less audible, she unexpectedly dived into a trench filled with soft mud. In fear that Sid would make a noise giving away their positions, Eva decided to stuff him under the mud, as she squeezed her own body as closely to the bottom of the mud as possible. Several seconds later, as the male leopard darted pass them, it was pretty clear they were safe.

As a seemingly muffled, panicking voice was heard from the mud, Eva lifted Sid out of the mud. "That… That was a close call…" Sid panted heavily while saying in a faint tone.

"Yeah, it sure was… I can't imagine being taken back by him…" Eva relaxed her body, before slumping down in the mud.

"What I meant was I almost suffocated in that pile of mud!" Sid exclaimed, pointing down to the pile of mud. Eva just ignored what he said.

"Well, let's get out of here." They struggled their way out of the trench, before long they managed to find a safe, enclosed area. As they lay down for the night, Sid lay against Eva, touching her soft fur. Just then, a question came out of Eva. "Sid, how are you able to sleep with me being so close? Doesn't it bother you the tiniest bit that well, maybe I might eat you up? You do know your level in the food chain, right?" She says as she jerks her body, trying to shake him off.

Sluggishly shifting off Eva, without attempting to suppress his yawn, he says "I've always been around you tigers, like Diego. Well, I'm already used to that fear of the possibility of being eaten… Anyways, nights Eva, and don't eat me…" He calls out, before quickly drifting into a deep slumber.

-Back with the leopards-

"Odd…" The leopard arrived back swiftly, still panting lightly, bowed deeply to the figure before him. No one ever knew his name. All they knew was that he was, without a doubt, the strongest of them all. His appearance was uncommon… he had a scar stretching from his right ear all the way down to his eye, and it had probably caused the bloodshot, cold eye to seem as if he was staring right into your soul… Since there wasn't a name that came along with such a unique appearance they started to call him… The Odd One.

"Greetings, master."

"You appearing here whilst letting them both escape, are you testing my patience, Connor!?"

"No…no… Didn't mean anything like that, master. Bu…but I do have an important piece of information I have gathered…" The leopard stammers, as he trembles under his fur. He looks around, noticing that the rest have also turned to listen, probably because the Odd One had raised his voice.

"WILL YOU MOVE ON WITH WHAT YOU WERE ABOUT TO SAY?!" He drew closer to Connor.

"Oh y-yes, of course. It seems like they have company. Eva and a sloth were discussing about some others, an odd pack, just like you, hehe…"

"That isn't funny, Connor." Connor turned to face the Odd One. "I want any of them caught."

"Any?" Connor finally looks up to face him. Being greedy, Connor predicted the phrase "capture all of them" instead.

"Yes, to hold them hostage. Oh, and Connor. What happened to your eye? Are you trying to imitate me?"

"No sir. I was bitten by a… a snake." As Connor said with composure, in his mind he was thinking about how dumb it would be to say that the sloth had done such a thing to him.

"Very well. I hope you do know that making a mockery out of me is a straight banishment from this territory, right?"

"Yes, sir. I did not mean to offend you."

-The next morning, with Diego-

With the beams of sunrays shining directly into Diego's eyes, he stood up groggily and started the day off with a good morning stretch. As he turned around to exit the cave, he found her. Lying limp with an easy, peaceful breathing rhythm was without a doubt, Shira. The first thought that came to Diego's mind was that he had to impress her, one way or another. Eyes glued onto her, he noticed that her stomach was flat, and was immediately interpreted by Diego as her needing food, and had decided to move out just to find some food, and hopefully, she doesn't just leave this place. As he wanted to get out, he found himself stuck in the cave, with Shira lying down at the tiny mouth of the cave, just amazed at how he managed to get into the cave last night at total darkness without accidently kicking her at the puny entrance.

Well, here goes nothing… Diego thought to himself, as he skilfully putting his right front paw over her, next was his right hind leg. He slowly attempted to cross over her. When his leg crossed over, it had come into contact with her body. Instantaneously, her eyes flew open, stared around for a while, and suddenly noticed his presence. To make matters worse, the way Diego was positioned over Shira… Looked like… yeah, that…

Shira was dumbfounded. As her eyes grew bigger, Diego had finally shook himself awake from the light trance he was in earlier, and swiftly got off her.

"Ummm… Shira? That was a misunderstanding, I promise you…"

"You…"

"M…me?"

"Nasty little pervert!" Shira tackled Diego to the ground before wrestling with Diego.

"I'll make you pay!" Shira tried to swipe him several times to no avail.

Diego pinned her down after some time and effort. "Shira…" "Let me go! You and your dirty mind! Stop holding me like that!"

"Shira! Just stop and listen!" As she stopped struggling, Diego slowly let go of her, before starting to explain in a calm voice. "All I was just trying to do is get out of the cave, without disturbing you… I'm sorry if I offended you… By looking as if I was doing… That." Diego apologetically reasoned, before continuing, "So Shira, actually I was thinking of getting you breakfast while you just wait… here… Is that fine?"

"What? No! What do you treat me as? A cub?" Shira snapped as she got up and walked out.

"Alright then, at least do you wanna go together?" Diego caught up to her side, smiling just like a young cub, asking his parents if it was fine to go out with his friends to play.

"If you aren't going to be a burden to me, I suppose I'll allow that." Shira smirks, knowing that she has already bought him in.

"I wouldn't say that if I were you, you're so much weaker" Diego valiantly points out, still being by her side, satisfied with his counter argument.

"You… Argh!" Shira exasperatedly replied.

Looking at Shira, he somehow found it cute watching Shira all angry and frustrated...

**Thanks, once again, for reading and reviewing this story! 3**

**Once again, I'll be looking for some more character names, if you do have any, I'd like to hear some! ;)**

**I'll cya in the next update! :D**


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